Many of the current generation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are electrically powered. Most electrically powered small UAVs are battery-powered, such as the RAVEN, Wasp III, and Puma AE by AeroVironment, Inc. of Monrovia, Calif., and the MAVERIC UAS by PRIORIA ROBOTICS of Gainesville, Fla. The endurance (i.e., total flight time of the vehicle with a full battery charge) of the current generation of small, electrically-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is limited by power consumed by the UAV and the energy storage capacity of the battery. For example, the endurance of the RAVEN UAV is limited to approximately 90 minutes of flight time. The limit on endurance of small UAVs reduces the operational effectiveness of the small UAVs because it limits the time the UAV can spend over a target of interest, and limits a distance range for targets.